Today's the first sessions for my other 2 modules, and here are some thoughts about what I've experienced in class.
First of all, no one brings laptops to class! (Anyway, there aren't any powerpoints available too..?) Haha.. really, this needs to have a little getting used to. And what if I no longer can sit through 3-hour seminars in SMU when I return??? gosh.
BUT its good that lessons are 1hr plus per session though, cos the seats here are really not-very-comfortable. Hmm let's see.. it's like our normal plastic chairs, just that they are attached to the long seminar table (like what we have in SMU, the tables I mean, just that they're lower here). So thing is, the chairs can be swiveled around, but only at awkward pivot positions since they're fixed, and some chairs even sink and rock weirdly so it gets quite squeaky and uncomfy at times.. haha.
Good thing is, class participation here seems more dynamic! People really speak their minds you know, and it's interesting hearing what they say. For example, during Personal Financial Planning, the Prof went round and asked what our financial goals were, and bold comments like "I want to be a millionaire by 30" shot up; probably things we'll rarely hear in Singapore. Someone even said he wished to own his own cottage and a spaceship as well, which was really amusing especially when the Prof played along. And well, I said to pay off my debts and have extra cash on hand to invest, as well as give back to my parents (and my Prof was very happy with the parents' part, haha).
Small Business Management was engaging too, although the course outline will have a slight overlap with Entrepreneurial Finance, urgh. We had self-introductions today and I made the class laugh over a comment I said about Winibread, haha. And something interesting too, was that a local guy actually gave me his namecard and asked me to join his group! He thought that I'll be an asset to the team because I've done EF.. wow. Actually quite scary.. but honoured eh. Who ever thought a full-time student would approach an exchange student to form groups?! Haha.
Oh, and people here are really open-minded about being "retained" or staying in school for many years. In fact, there are several people I've met who are already in their 6th or 7th year, just because they'd "spent 1-2 years in computer engineering and hated it", or "took 2 years off to work". There was even a Business student in his 4th year who is still major-less! I don't know what to make of this (if some students generally do not look too far ahead?), but for one thing they aren't ashamed of speaking their minds and being open about themselves.
xx
Alright, that's enough for classes. Anyway, it was a pretty good day cos of several things too:
Before class: Started my day off with hitting the gym (or rather, the tiny fitness room downstairs in residence). The facilities were minimal, but at least there was a treadmill, a bicycle and my skipping rope. I also sent my postcards out!
After class: Decided to check out the library's book collections (as well as course reserves to see if my textbooks are available, since buying is so expensive). I settled a few other things for myself too, then headed to University Centre to check out the bookstores. Turns out that they sell some really good books here, amongst which is Alvin Toffler's "Future Shock", which only costs CAD 10! Will get it sometime soon! :)
And then.. I bumped into the Koreans and Dutch, and discovered there was a "Taste of the World" food-fair event by UMSU today, offering free food of all cuisines! Hmm.. it felt that people here are kiasu too.. scrambling all over to pile food on their plates (I wasn't like that)! Haha.. and I got to speak with the students manning the Taiwanese food booth, who are also full-time students from the Taiwanese Students' Association. They spoke about a Mid-Autumn celebration next week, and I intend to join!
So ergo, it really felt good to wander around in the cool Fall season, increasingly familiarizing myself with the school surroundings and doing things at my own pace, just for myself! :)